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Griz basketball nets commitment from sibling duo, including Colorado State transfer

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MISSOULA — The Montana men's basketball program has added a brotherly boost to their 2022-23 roster.

Siblings Dorell and Dischon Thomas both announced their commitments via Twitter to the Grizzlies over the last several days. Natives of Durham, North Carolina, Dorell announced his commitment on April 4 while Dischon announced his decision on Sunday.

Dischon Thomas joins the Grizzlies after spending the previous three years at Colorado State where he carved out a lot of playing time in the Mountain West. Thomas, a 6-foot-8 forward, appeared in 91 career games for the Rams, and in 2021-22, he played in 31 games and started in 29 of them en route to averaging 5.7 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in 16.1 minutes per contest. Thomas shot 40.7% from the field and 41.4% from beyond the arc.

CSU went 25-6 this past season and earned a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Rams fell to No. 11 Michigan in the first round, but Thomas performed well and led the Rams with 15 points in the game after going 5 for 7 from deep. He added two steals in the game as well.

Prior to CSU, Thomas played prep basketball at Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix, Arizona. He joins UM with two years of eligibility remaining. He is the first transfer UM has landed in this latest cycle.

His younger brother, Dorell, recently finished up his final season at Skyline Prep in Phoenix. The 6-foot-5 wing chose UM over reported offers from Wyoming and UC Santa Barbara. Thomas is the fifth incoming freshman for UM which also includes Shelby native Rhett Reynolds, Jaxon Nap of Washington and Isaiah Kerr of California plus Missoula Big Sky walk-on Caden Bateman.

Those five, plus the addition of Dischon Thomas, make it 15 players on UM's roster as of Monday evening. Those six will join senior Mack Anderson, who is utilizing his COVID year to come back, plus seniors Lonnell Martin Jr., Derrick Carter-Hollinger and Josh Vazquez. Juniors Josh Bannan, Brandon Whitney and Trey Lawrence plus sophomore John Solomon and redshirt freshman Johnny Braggs round out the rest of the roster.

UM has lost five players to transfer since the season ended, including starting guard Robby Beasley III, sixth man Cameron Parker and role player Kyle Owens. Redshirt junior Freddie Brown III and freshman walk-on Jack Wetzel have also left.

The Grizzlies are coming off of a season where they finished 18-14 overall.